St. John's vs Northern Iowa College Basketball Prediction, Odds, Picks, Best Bets for NCAA Tournament First Round

An opening-round NCAA Tournament matchup will see the No. 5-seed St. John's Red Storm (28-6) hit the court against the No. 12 seed Northern Iowa Panthers (23-12) on Friday at Viejas Arena. The contest starts at 7:10 p.m. ET, on CBS.

Before you place your bet on this game at FanDuel Sportsbook, here are the NCAA basketball odds and spreads you need to know.

St. John's vs. Northern Iowa Game Info and Odds

• Game day: Friday, March 20, 2026
• Game time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• TV channel: CBS
• Location: San Diego, California
• Arena: Viejas Arena

St. John's vs. Northern Iowa Picks and Prediction

All college basketball win probability predictions and picks are according to numberFire.
Prediction: St. John's win (72%)

Take a look at these betting trends and insights before you bet on Friday's St. John's-Northern Iowa spread (St. John's -10.5) or total (132.5 points).

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St. John's vs. Northern Iowa: ATS Betting Stats and Trends

• St. John's has put together a 20-14-0 ATS record so far this year.
• Northern Iowa has compiled an 18-15-0 ATS record so far this season.
• In home games, the Red Storm own a worse record against the spread (8-9-0) compared to their ATS record on the road (7-3-0).
• Against the spread, the Panthers have had better results on the road (7-4-0) than at home (7-9-0).

St. John's vs. Northern Iowa: Moneyline Betting Stats

• St. John's has come away with 25 wins in the 28 contests it has been listed as the moneyline favorite in this season.
• This year, the Red Storm have won 13 of 14 games when listed as at least -629 or better on the moneyline.
• Northern Iowa has been the underdog on the moneyline six total times this season. Northern Iowa has gone 3-3 in those games.
• The Panthers have never played a game this season with moneyline odds of +450 or longer.
• The moneyline set for this matchup implies St. John's has a 86.3% chance of coming away with a victory in the contest.

St. John's vs. Northern Iowa Head-to-Head Comparison

• St. John's has a +394 scoring differential, topping opponents by 11.6 points per game. It is putting up 81.6 points per game to rank 55th in college basketball and is allowing 70 per contest to rank 69th in college basketball.
• Zuby Ejiofor's 16.3 points per game lead St. John's and rank 202nd in the nation.
• Northern Iowa's +303 scoring differential (outscoring opponents by 8.6 points per game) is a result of putting up 69.9 points per game (309th in college basketball) while giving up 61.3 per outing (first in college basketball).
• Trey Campbell's 13.7 points per game leads Northern Iowa and ranks 443rd in the nation.
• The Red Storm win the rebound battle by an average of 4.3 boards. They are grabbing 34.7 rebounds per game (51st in college basketball) compared to their opponents' 30.4 per outing.
• Ejiofor averages 7.1 rebounds per game (ranking 146th in college basketball) to lead the Red Storm.
• The Panthers average 28.4 rebounds per game (333rd in college basketball) while conceding 30.2 per outing to opponents. They are outrebounded by 1.8 boards per game.
• Tristan Smith paces the Panthers with 5.1 rebounds per game (562nd in college basketball).
• St. John's averages 100.8 points per 100 possessions on offense (94th in college basketball), and allows 86.4 points per 100 possessions (16th in college basketball).
• The Panthers rank 129th in college basketball averaging 99.5 points per 100 possessions on offense, and defensively are 29th, allowing 87.2 points per 100 possessions.

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